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SAT-7® has an online presence using Facebook®, Twitter®, YouTube®, and its various channel websites. The SAT-7 ARABIC Channel on YouTube has had over 2.6 million hits! SAT-7 strives to create programming that addresses audience needs, so we are asking: What’s most popular? How are people responding?
The clip with the most hits is a flash mob performance at City Mall in Beirut, Lebanon, aired by SAT-7. Singers performed the song “Jesus is Risen” on Easter, while many bystanders took video with their cell phones. At the time of this writing, the clip has 298,727 views, 1,428 likes, and over 500 comments! We also discovered that having an online presence has broadened our audience to more than just the Middle East and North Africa. Online viewers from Serbia, Romania, Canada, Thailand, and other places all over the world have interacted with the video. One viewer commented “I am [an] Orthodox Christian. When I saw this video for [the] first time, since then until every time I see, I feel something inside of my chest I can’t explain…May God bless and protect all Christians in the World to the right way. Greetings from Macedonia!”
Overall, the YouTube clips with the most views are musical performances and worship services. I asked the Executive Director of SAT-7 Studios in Egypt, which in addition to SAT-7 Studios in Beirut produces SAT-7 ARABIC programming, if he had seen a similar trend in television viewership. He said “Yes, and we have a good reason why that is. During turmoil, people are very depressed and they really want to find hope. And in music and worship, we praise our God and we really enjoy that. We receive a sense of faith and hope through worship. That’s the difference between secular music and Christian music. We have a real hope.”
Click below to see the clip that got the most hits on SAT-7 ARABIC on YouTube!
(For English subtitles, click on “CC” in the bottom right corner of the box.)
Egypt’s recent soccer tragedy in #BorSaid reminded me of the power of crowd behavior, although my experiences have been quite different.
It was February 2008 when in Ghana, Egypt’s team had just won the African Cup in a soccer match against Cameroon. Along the cab ride home from a friend’s place in Zamalek, Cairo, I could hear the roar of thousands of people cheering, drums beating, whistles blowing, cars all honking to the same beat, and cracking noises I couldn’t identify. Hoards of people jammed the streets, blocking traffic. When cabs honked or flashed their lights in frustration, it just fed the crowd’s excitement. Kids and teenagers packed the roofs of moving cabs and pickup truck beds. Some were waving Egyptian flags and had face paint, and one guy was blowing fire out of an aerosol can.
After getting into my seventh floor apartment, I looked out the window to watch the excitement in the street. Something else caught my eye. It was my neighbors who lived on the rooftop of the shorter building opposite me. The woman was turning in her bed, which was under the cover of a makeshift roof with no walls. It was open to the weather, the scrutiny of anyone on a higher floor nearby, and on that night the wildly boisterous celebrations that would definitely keep her awake. There was a contrast between the comfort of my apartment (recently renovated office-turned-apartment with high ceilings) and the obvious discomfort of hers. Despite the city’s celebrations, I went to bed that night with mixed feelings.
I wondered about all my ‘neighbors,’ who I hardly knew. Growing up in church, I’ve heard “Love thy neighbor” for years (Mark 12:31). I consider how to love my coworkers and friends as neighbors, but how often have I reached out to my literal neighbors in big cities? It is interesting how I’ve gotten caught up in the crowd and forgotten about some of my neighbors and their needs over the years. I think the beauty of SAT-7’s ministry is that through technology, every family with a television or computer in the Middle East becomes a neighbor. It is an invitation for each person to experience the love of God’s family. It is also an exhortation for me as a Christian to look around and be more inclusive loving neighbors.
African Cup 2008
How is Christianity able to take shape in so many different contexts and cultures? In Egypt, I was surprised to learn that each person’s ID card has his or her religion listed just like birth date and address. This is typically the same religion as the person’s father… religion is inherited/assigned. When I signed my apartment lease, both the owner and I had to list our religions in the official document. Spiritual background has a semi-public life in Egypt. That raises a lot of questions for me. To what extent can one perceive religion as a culture or upbringing, and how does that relate to salvation as a personal relationship with Christ?
There are also voluntary ways that people express their faith. Perhaps a familiar and obvious way to do this is for men and women alike to wear a cross necklace. I once visited a squatter community by the name of Manshiet Nasser on the outskirts of Cairo, total population about 700,000. On a hilltop is a cave church, an expansive outdoor church with tall Arabic Bible verses carved into rock walls.
Walking around, I encountered a woman carrying a toddler who was screaming and crying. We got to talking and she was excited to announce that the 2-year-old was crying because he just got a tattoo of a cross on his hand. Many Coptic Christians get a small tattoo of a cross on the wrist or hand. On another occasion in a different neighborhood, I was walking down a dusty alley when I saw a man in the process of getting a tattoo. He was getting a tattoo of an image of Jesus on his arm out in the open air as people passed by.
These Christians live in such a way that every person who meets them will know they are children of God. God wants His truth to be a light that shines in the darkness and frees people (2 Corinthians 4:6). As part of the same Church, SAT-7 seeks to shine a light in the darkness in every way possible. Our goal is to come alongside the Christian community throughout the Arab world as encouragers and supporters in faith, serving the entire community.
The Cave Church
Andrew White
Faith Under Fire: What the Middle East conflict has taught me about God
Oxford: Monarch Books, 2011
pp. 1-160. $9.99 Kindle edition.
Faith Under Fire is a personal account of Andrew White’s experiences as the vicar at St. George’s Church in Baghdad, Iraq. It is an inspirational testimony of Andrew White, whose faith and knowledge of God has grown during his time there. His story is a frank and exciting read for anyone interested in the inner workings of a church facing persecution, the effects of conflicts in Iraq on daily lifestyle, or a bold exhortation for Christians to follow and trust God come what may.
Vicar White’s main argument in Faith Under Fire is that God’s presence is strong at work in Iraq, both despite and because of the challenges of living amidst violent persecution. His eyewitness account and relationships with local Iraqis build a story that reinforces his faith in God’s power.
As a doctor, Vicar White’s medical background allows him to recognize the immediate physical needs of his congregation when he opens a clinic in St. George’s Church. Mentors are another strong influence in Vicar White’s life. Several times, he quotes the Archbishop of Canterbury in what had become a life motto for him: “Don’t take care, take risks.” (15) By far, the most influential source in Vicar White’s life and writing is the Bible. When he is kidnapped, or a child dies despite much prayer, or he sees wanted posters with his picture all over the city, Vicar White goes back to Scripture to seek God’s peace and answers.
The organization of the book is very deliberate and reveals the author’s values. Chapters 1 and 2 are devoted to demonstrating Vicar White’s journey, from medical and theological training to getting married, and a great shift in the story when he discovers he is very ill. This segment will later show the reader how God’s path for Vicar White was preparing him precisely for his future in Baghdad. While many readers might expect the book to be consumed with a description of murders and kidnappings, these aspects only come out from Chapter 4 onward. Even at that point, Vicar White’s description of events includes an overarching focus on the strength of believers at St. George’s Church and God’s faithfulness amidst tragedy.
The remainder of the book is interspersed with stories connected to its main themes. The most recurrent theme, evident in the title, is the pervasiveness of fire or heat. It often appears in the book as the threat of violent persecution, but at other times is the literal heat in Iraq’s climate that ironically improves the author’s medical condition. It appears in yet a different context when the author points to the story of Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego as the first appearance of Christ on earth. (132) Coping with mortality is also a major theme, demonstrated both through Vicar White’s personal illness and the murders of parishioners. Manifestations of the supernatural are a fascinating theme that comes up in the form of miracles, premonitions in dreams, and the physical presence of images like wheels in the air.
By Chapter 11, Vicar White presents a call to action for readers to support St. George’s Church. He stresses the urgency of the ongoing crisis in Iraq and quotes a church member saying, “Don’t the other Christians in the world care about us?” This urgency is felt strongly in an Epilogue that describes the massacre at Our Lady of Deliverance that took place in 2010. (130) The Conclusion engages the book of Habbakuk, in which Habbakuk looks on the destruction of his country and wonders how God can let it happen. In a final statement that summarizes Vicar White’s experience in Baghdad, he says “The heat of the fire is intense here, but so is the joy of the Lord.” (159)
Overall, Faith Under Fire is a phenomenal account of trusting God amidst a lifestyle of constant crisis. The Scripture Vicar White presents in the book goes far beyond a feel-good discussion of Christianity and leads the reader through a series of hard life lessons that all people face, presenting how to work through them spiritually. Vicar White’s book left me feeling challenged and inspired to broaden my perception of God’s capability and tune my ears more to His voice and direction in my life. It was convicting to read how Vicar White sacrificed his personal privacy, the comforts of his homeland and time with his family to give all he had to God’s call in his life. In the same vein, it was convicting to read about Iraqis sacrificing their lives to declare their faith in the Gospel.
I was disappointed that Vicar White did not dwell more on his parishioners. He defines them so much by the violence and persecution that constrains them, but does not clearly show the more personal side of their competencies outside of the church building. When I first picked up the book, I was hoping to learn more about Iraqis’ family and social lives, professional goals, personal hopes and accomplishments. It is possible that the vicar of such a huge congregation, especially in such a tight security environment, would have limited access to in-depth conversation or interviews with every single parishioner.
While Vicar White devotes much time to praising the faith and strength of his parishioners, there are a few points in the book where he seems to privilege his culture as superior and make broad generalizations. In one example, he refers to the difficulties of working with “disorganized Arab culture.” (154) Instead of recognizing competing values such as expediency versus thoroughness or single policy versus situational consensus, he makes a value judgment patronizing how Iraqis do business. His statement also ignores the fact that Iraq is partly non-Arab (Kurdish), and that Arabs in different countries have unique cultures. I do not think that Vicar White consciously implies any of the above, but his words could have the unintended effect of harming his credibility with readers that have ties to the region.
These points, while distracting in the text, are not representative of the entire book. In fact, they deviate from an overwhelmingly warm depiction of Iraqi Christians, as well as a hope and dedication to a better future for their country.
Written by Melissa Brown
-Melissa Brown, SAT-7 Blogger
Leaving didn’t seem real until I walked through airport security and realized I had no cell phone and no friends where I was headed. During my freshman year of college at Liberty University, I spent a lot of time praying about where my life was headed. At 18 years old, I committed to three years in Egypt (never having been there) where I would receive a B.A. in Middle East Studies from The American University in Cairo. There were many times during those three years that I would wake up in the morning and wonder, what on earth am I doing here? The girl that got off the plane alone in Cairo that first year had a lot of fears and misgivings about how the world works, and I can look back and say that I would do it all again to become the person that I am today. Starting over in a new country was one of many decisions that God used to broaden my perception of the world and strengthen my faith as a Christian.
While I was living in Cairo, I worked part-time as an English teacher. Working with a U.S. professional and fellow church member, I also helped to start Maadi Community Church’s first downtown Bible study. I could go on about some of the things I did there, but the most important parts of my life in Cairo were the people I met who taught me how to live and love with patience and appreciation for God’s gifts. Landlords, doormen, corner store owners, roommates, classmates, professors, coworkers, supervisors, church members… At a discussion on social justice in New York City, Pastor Dr. Tim Keller said that if you’re a Christian, you have to love cities because cities are full of humanity. The best personal introduction I can give is to express that I want my life to be defined not by things or accomplishments, but by relationships.
With all of its own hardships, my life in Cairo was the best three years of my life (so far). Graduation was a bittersweet time. That one piece of paper was supposed to represent my independence, a more secure future and a pat on the shoulder for all my hard work. But all the tears I cried in the airport as I bid farewell to my best friend couldn’t erase the heartache of leaving a life behind. At the same time, I could only live with a foot on each continent for so long and grad school was waiting in Manhattan. I put down roots as fast as I could when I moved to New York. During my first few months, people checked in on me to see how I was handling big city life. I would laugh because New York City actually has less than half the population of Cairo and doesn’t seem nearly as polluted or congested. It was a convenient city by comparison, other than the anxiety that comes with graduate thesis research. Not to mention that during my last semester, we were all glued to our computers watching our friends in Tahrir Square and praying they wouldn’t be among the injured or dead of Egypt’s revolution. During this time, I also worked as a Program & Fiscal Assistant at my department and interned at The Christian Embassy to the United Nations.
It was through my graduate department that I had received a fellowship to study Arabic during the previous summer, and I had decided to go back to Jerusalem. (I went on a short touristic trip before with Liberty University.) This time was different, to say the least. I decided to just fly in a few days before class and find an apartment on Craigslist. I rented from a local in an apartment in the middle of the night-life on Yaffa Street, where I could walk into the Old City every day for class. In August, I returned to Manhattan for my last year of graduate school. It was easier to leave Manhattan than Cairo—maybe because it was a short bus-ride away in the same time zone, or it was a relief to finally finish my thesis. It was after I moved back to my home state of Maryland that I became familiar with SAT-7.
I have been blogging since I first moved overseas in 2006. When I initially learned of SAT-7, I was astounded by the creative way that it brings people together using media technology. SAT-7’s work gives the Church a voice in recent developments using technology that aids in globalization, and I’m excited about being part of new conversations about God’s presence in the Middle East and North Africa.